Lawmaker Pushes Bill To Revamp DOI Offshore Oversight

Law360, New York (July 25, 2011, 7:26 PM EDT) -- Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, proposed a draft bill Monday that would put into law the planned reorganization of the Minerals Management Service and revamp its oversight of offshore drilling.

Like a proposal unveiled by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in May 2010 after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the bill would abolish the MMS and create separate entities responsible for royalty collection, permitting and environmental issues.

“The Department of the Interior has already taken steps to restructure...